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After public comments and hearing, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has adopted amendments to the rules implementing the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), which was established by Chapter 8 of Title 20 of the New York City Administrative Code. These amendments took effect July 23, 2026.
Additional Reasons for Taking Leave
The amendments expand the reasons employees may use leave. In addition to existing health and safety related uses, workers may now take protected time off to care for a child or care recipient, attend legal proceedings or address housing or subsistence benefit issues, respond to a public disaster, or respond to workplace violence.
New 32-Hour Unpaid Leave Bank Requirement
A key change requires employers to provide 32 hours of immediately available protected time off on an employee’s first day of work and again at the start of each calendar year. These hours are generally unpaid, although employers may choose to provide some or all of them as paid leave. These hours are also separate from the regular accrued or frontloaded leave time already required under ESSTA.
The rules also clarify that when an employee has both paid and unpaid protected time off available, employers must generally apply paid leave first unless the employee requests otherwise. In addition, if an employee is rehired within the same calendar year, the employer must restore any unused portion of the 32-hour leave bank.
Clarification on Paid Prenatal Leave
The amendments also update rules on paid prenatal leave, confirming that employees are entitled to a separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal leave in a 52-week period. Employers may not force workers to use other leave first or require disclosure of medical details.
Myriad Employer Obligations Regarding Written Policies and Records Finally, the revised rules strengthen employer obligations on written policies, pay statement disclosures, recordkeeping, and enforcement. Overall, the changes broaden worker protections and impose new compliance requirements on New York City employers. Accordingly, employers should review, update and distribute their written policies.
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